


Soon You'll Get Better

by Wreckmyplanss



Category: Life Is Strange (Video Game)
Genre: Emotional Hurt/Comfort, F/F, Goodbyes, Hurt/Comfort, Love Confessions, Romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-04
Updated: 2021-02-04
Packaged: 2021-03-15 17:09:04
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,673
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29192832
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Wreckmyplanss/pseuds/Wreckmyplanss
Summary: After trying to fix the timeline where William died, Max found that she had unfortunately done more damage than good. Desperate to be there for her best friend, she makes a promise with her words and her actions that she'll be there until the bitter end, no matter what that bitter end may be. It was Max and Chloe, forever.
Relationships: Maxine "Max" Caulfield/Chloe Price
Comments: 9
Kudos: 21





	Soon You'll Get Better

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading! This is set during the timeline where Max tries to fix William's death and Chloe ends up in a wheelchair. It's just a soft oneshot of what I wish it had been.

To say Max was overwhelmed would be an understatement. 

The Max in this timeline clearly didn’t know about Chloe’s condition, otherwise she would’ve been at her bedside in an instant. That’s what she liked to think, anyway. There’s a chance the Vortex club and her friends - shudder - had changed her. How did she end up here? How did she become this person?

They were sitting in Chloe’s makeshift room, which had once been the garage. She had arrived a few hours ago, mostly sitting in the chair as Chloe slept. They had a few conversations where Chloe explained what happened, but for the most part it was up to Max and her snooping to figure it out.

When she went back in time to save Chloe’s father, she had expected the outcome to be so much better. Maybe they would’ve ended up together in the end, since there wouldn’t be a rift between them. Maybe even Seattle would’ve been fine, and Max would’ve kept in contact all this time. Maybe they would’ve been in school together this whole time.

How wrong she was. She had fucked up beyond repair.

As Chloe slept in the chair, Max took the chance to walk around and examine the walls. They were bare, nothing like the Chloe that she once knew, but all around her were little remnants of their childhood. Quietly, she picked up a snow globe that was on the TV stand and stared inside of it, as though she would be whisked away to somewhere else.

“Max?” Asked the voice behind her, quiet and gentle. Max immediately set down the snow globe, walking over to the other girl, who smiled softly at her. Max had noticed right away how much older Chloe looked, probably simply from exhaustion - she didn’t have the same trauma and fears that her Chloe had, but she had something else hidden behind those bright blue eyes. 

It was years of hoping, crushed every time she felt a familiar pain, crushed every time she remembered that she couldn’t move anything but her head. “You’re still here.”

“Of course I am,” Max responded, making her way over to Chloe. She pulled up the chair, settling on it with her hands on the bed. She longed to reach out and take Chloe’s hand, but she knew the gesture would go unnoticed. “Why would I leave?”

Chloe’s smile stayed on her lips, but it was sadder now, dreading the inevitable. “I know I’m boring as shit right now. Don’t you have homework or something?”

“Doesn’t matter,” the brunette replied, running a hand through her hair, brushing it out of her eyes. Her hair was slightly longer here, she noticed. It even felt a little dry, like she’d just washed hair dye chemicals out of it. She was reminded of Chloe’s blue hair and for a moment she winced, but quickly drew herself back. “I’m here for you. We can watch a movie or something if you want.”

Chloe’s smile finally dropped as she shifted her head, laying it back on the pillow. She breathed in, as though it was painful for her, and tried to compose herself. “Uh, yeah, sure, Maxie.”

She sounded hesitant, not wanting to force Max into staying over. Meanwhile, Max couldn’t tear her eyes off the other girl’s face, wanting to memorize every feature. If this was hard for her, she couldn’t imagine how hard it was for Chloe. Moving to finally stand up, she walked over to the movies, leaning down to pick up at them. Grabbing a movie that she barely looked at, she toyed with the cover for a moment before finally speaking again.

“Chloe, why didn’t you tell me it was this bad?” She asked softly, looking at her friend with an expression she hoped wasn’t pleading. As she spoke, she popped open the DVD player, allowing her friend another moment to answer.

“You were busy, Max. You have a life, I didn’t wanna weigh you down.” Chloe swallowed her words, as though speaking them hurt her throat. She longed to gesture the way that she used to, but she simply averted her eyes and tried to keep her tone as neutral as possible. “Besides, I told you I had an accident, and you didn’t visit.”

Max winced. She didn’t know anything about her life in this timeline, and she hadn’t thought to check her journal or texts to see what the current situation was with Chloe. Regardless, she planned on fixing it.

“I know, I’m sorry,” she said quietly, walking back over to the chair, holding the remote in one hand. This time, she didn’t hesitate to take Chloe’s hand in her own, noticing how it was completely limp. It made her throat dry, but she pushed on. “I’m here now. And I’m not going anywhere, not anymore. I promise.”

Chloe nodded, but she could see the doubt hidden in the other girl’s eyes. No matter, Max already planned to leave a note for her other self when the timelines merged once more and she was no longer aware of anything but this world. She wouldn’t let this happen again, not anymore.

The movie played, starting in the opening scene, while they remained quiet. Chloe’s eyes drifted between her friend and the movie, and finally she spoke again. “Of course you picked this one.”

Max smirked, looking over at her. “It’s a classic, Chloe. You know I have the best taste.”

“Mhmm.” Chloe fell quiet again, watching the screen. Her eyes drifted to their hands, and she absentmindedly tried to hold Max’s hand back. When it didn’t move, she felt a tear appear in the corner of her eye, but she tried to blink it away. She should be used to it by now, but sometimes it was the little things that got you.

Nothing got past Max.

“Are you okay?” She asked softly, leaning a little closer and lifting her free hand to wipe at Chloe’s cheek. The contact was so gentle, so sweet, that it made Chloe’s heart beat a thousand times faster. If Max noticed, she didn’t say anything, she just let go and leaned back a little bit to give her space to breathe.

“A-okay, Maximilian,” she answered, trying and failing to smirk.

Max debated with herself for a moment before standing, taking an extra step towards the bed. When Chloe didn’t protest, she gently made her way onto the bed, sitting next to her. She noticed how Chloe tried to shift over but wasn’t able to move a single inch, so she shifted the blonde’s weight for her and adjusted herself comfortably, still holding Chloe’s hand.

If Chloe had been holding back tears before, she was hella struggling to hold them back now. She swallowed, not being used to the close contact with another person. Once she was comfortable, Max turned her head to face her, smiling softly down at her. Chloe’s expression was so gentle, so broken, that it pulled at her heartstrings. She, of course, assumed the history between them was the same - which meant that she knew Chloe was thinking about their million sleepovers, about every moment they spent as kids, snuggling and giggling under the covers.

“What? It’s a sleepover,” Max replied, her tone teasing but more soft than anything. “I’m not hurting you or fucking with the wires or anything, right?”

Chloe shook her head, and Max was satisfied with the answer. Turning back to the screen, she pulled Chloe’s limp hand into her lap and watched the movie play on. The sniffling beside her was lost in the sounds of the movie, but as the characters onscreen shared a moment, she finally allowed herself to look back at Chloe. She noticed then that the other girl’s eyes weren’t on the screen at all, but rather still on her.

She took pause, swallowing in nervousness. There’s something she wanted to do, but wasn’t sure if she should do it. “Chloe, can I ask you something?” She finally inquired, her voice cautious but hopeful. Chloe nodded in response. “Can I hug you?”

Chloe paused, looking at the mess of cables she was attached to. “Sure,” she responded, steeling herself for the hug. Max moved slowly and with purpose, gently lifting Chloe’s back, careful not to touch the cables, and pulled her close. She was doing most of the heavy lifting, wrapping her arms around Chloe’s upper back and her waist, ensuring she was fully supported. All Chloe could do was nuzzle into Max’s neck, unable to lift her arms to hug her back.

This Chloe smelled the same, minus the weed, cigarettes, and hair dye. Max bit back a sob as she hugged her, running a hand along Chloe’s back, even if she couldn’t feel it.

The movie droned on in the background, but all Max could hear was Chloe as she crumbled in Max’s arms, softly sobbing into her neck. She allowed the other to cry as much as she needed to, until she heard her sniffle and she decided to pull them apart. Laying her back down, Max slowly slid off the bed and grabbed some tissues.

“Thanks,” Chloe said, allowing Max to wipe her face and blow her nose for her. “Sorry, I’m pathetic,” she added in a mumble, unable to hide her shame as her best friend blew her nose for her. Fucking hell. It was unfortunate that Max caught her on a bad day, she had no more energy for stupid jokes, no more energy for anything but tears.

“You’re not,” Max responded, frowning at the other girl. She made her way back onto the bed, the movie forgotten. Once she disposed of the tissues, she reached a hand over to brush hair out of Chloe’s face. The strawberry blonde locks were as soft as ever, but part of her missed the messy blue, and she felt a tug at her heart.

“I haven’t been hugged in forever,” Chloe explained, breathing in deeply to ensure she was composed once more. “My parents don’t even hug me anymore.” And neither do her friends, but she wasn’t about to explain to Max that she had none.They all left her over time. She was sure it was implied, considering her room didn’t hold any new memories other than childhood.

Not Max, though. Max had come back, and although Chloe was afraid she would leave again, she seemed determined not to. Chloe would take that hope where she was allowed to have it.

“Are you okay?” Max asked again; she’d long since pushed the hair out of Chloe’s eyes, but now she just continued her motions, stroking the girl’s hair lovingly. As Chloe smiled softly, she made a mental note to do this to her Chloe back at home, she clearly loved it.

“I am now that you’re here.” She smirked, trying to hide the softness behind a little rib of teasing in her tone. It was so _Chloe_ that it nearly made the brunette start crying again, but she didn’t.

A moment of silence stayed between them, neither of them looking at the movie anymore. Max leaned forward, pressing her lips to Chloe’s forehead, using the brief few seconds away from Chloe’s gaze to close her eyes as she tried to compose herself. 

“I wish --” Chloe started, cutting herself off as Max pulled away. She looked at her, encouraging her to go on, hearing the hitch in her breathing. “I wish we had more time.”

Max winced, the implication behind her words clear. Max chose not to dwell on that part. “No, Chloe, that’s my fault. I should’ve seen you sooner. Hell, I should’ve been there when the car crashed, maybe I would’ve --”

“Stop,” Chloe said sharply, shaking her head. “You don’t get to blame yourself. It was way out of your fucking control, Max. Not your fucking fault.”

It was, but Max didn’t feel like explaining it. She didn’t want to burden Chloe with that knowledge. Instead, moved her hand from Chloe’s hair to her cheek instead, gently running her thumb over the skin there. She noticed how this Chloe didn’t have a tiny scar under her eye, which she assumed her Chloe got from something stupid. It was the little things that really shook Max to her core, really reminded her of how different things were here.

“I wish we had more time, too.” As she spoke, Max smiled down at her, reaching her thumb up a little to wipe at tears on Chloe’s cheeks that were threatening to fall over once more. She watched as the blonde closed her eyes, breathing in slowly, trying to absorb the moment.

“Hey, Max?” She asked, finally opening her eyes. Max nodded at her, inviting her to continue. “You know I love you, right?”

That could mean a million different things. It could be a confession of intimate love, it could simply be a friend trying to make up for lost time, it could be a goodbye. If Max knew her friend well enough, and understood the moment they were sharing, she would suspect that it was all three. She nodded once more, this time a little slower, a little more scared. “Yeah, I know. I love you too.”

Chloe smiled, her smile was hidden behind layers of sadness. They both were remembering what this situation meant for their friendship, where this was leading to. Max had seen Chloe die enough times, she knew the heartbreak that would come with it - but she also knew that life without Chloe wasn’t a life worth living at all, and she would give it all up for one more moment with her. It only made sense that she stayed by her friend’s side until the very end.

Max hummed softly, gently stroking Chloe’s cheek. She watched as the other girl closed her eyes once more, trying to take in every little thing about their time together. The brunette took that as a chance to lean in, moving as slow as possible, not wanting to take away any of Chloe’s agency if she didn’t want this. As she felt their breath mix with each other’s, she paused before moving any closer, happy to feel that Chloe didn’t tell them to stop.

As she kissed her, she noticed right away how Chloe fumbled, not quite sure what to do. It was a first kiss for both of them, but before long they found their footing as they kissed softly and slowly. Max wanted to memorize everything about this experience; from the sound of the movie in the background to the taste of Chloe’s lips, she wanted to remember it all. She gently slid her hand to the back of Chloe’s head, tangling in her hair and holding her in place. She felt the other girl whimper softly and she pulled away for a moment.

As their eyes met, Max smiled at her, using her free hand to hold her other cheek. She saw tears brimming in Chloe’s eyes, surprised to feel that there were some in her own, too. Chloe opened her mouth as though to say something else, but Max didn’t give her a chance before she was leaning in to kiss her once more.

This time, she was surprised to hear a little giggle break from Chloe’s throat. When they broke for air again, she leaned down to press her lips to Chloe’s cheek, drifting down to kiss at her neck as well before she finally pulled away completely to look into her eyes.

“I mean it. I’m not going anywhere,” she spoke, a smile dancing on her lips. 

Chloe giggled again, genuine happiness radiating for her. For a moment, she wasn’t in pain, for a moment, she wasn’t injured -- she was just Chloe, hopefully in love with her best friend, even after all of these years. 

“Promise?” She asked, wanting Max to echo her statement from earlier. Max smirked, dropping her hands from Chloe’s face so she could lean in and kiss her once more.

“Promise.”


End file.
